Los Angeles mayoral contender Nithya Raman on Wednesday opposed a $13 million funding package for 107 LAPD vehicles, as the police department races to expand its fleet before the intense security demands expected during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Raman was joined by fellow progressive councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Ysabel Jurado, making them the only three members to vote no. The Los Angeles City Council approved the measure 8-3.
The package authorizes $13.04 million in debt financing for 107 non-patrol vehicles. The list includes 30 dual-purpose vehicles, 30 unmarked investigative vehicles, seven mobile substations, four van substations, and an assortment of trucks, transport vans and emergency-response vehicles.
The decision comes as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Olympics, an event expected to bring more than 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes to the region.
According to city officials, the new LAPD vehicles would support venue command operations, staging areas, investigations and other public safety needs tied to the Games.
Even so, the department has already cautioned that it is facing a significant shortage of both vehicles and personnel ahead of the global event.
LAPD officials estimate they will need more than 900 patrol vehicles during the Olympics and Paralympics. The department still anticipates being short about 300 vehicles, even after accounting for plans to borrow cars from other units, keep older vehicles in service and make fuller use of its existing fleet.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell has also told City Hall that Olympic organizers do not have a dedicated funding source set aside to pay for the department’s law enforcement expenses.
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“LA28 confirms that they have zero police or other safety budgets,” McDonnell told councilmembers in April. “While they do have a security budget, it doesn’t cover law enforcement.”
The department estimates it could need nearly 6,700 officers across eight LA venues on peak days, while LAPD can provide only about one-third of that manpower itself.
LAPD is separately seeking roughly $30 million for another 300 black-and-white patrol vehicles to close the projected shortfall.
Raman’s no vote comes as she battles Mayor Karen Bass in the November runoff and faces renewed scrutiny over her evolving stance on policing.
During her 2020 City Council campaign, Raman posted “defund the police” and called for transforming LAPD into a “much smaller, specialized armed force.”
She has since shifted her position, arguing during her mayoral campaign that LAPD should not shrink further from its current force of roughly 8,600 officers.
But Raman has continued to oppose some major police spending measures, including voting earlier this year against Bass’ push to hire 170 additional LAPD officers.
Raman’s office did not immediately respond to The California Post’s request for an explanation of her Wednesday vote.
